What a Feeling
by JohnPaulGeorgeandRingo
Summary: Written for the 'I Heart Rogan' writing challenge. Marie is searching for her place in the world, Logan is running away from his demons. Angst/Humour/Friendship/Romance. Please R and R. One shot, post Last Stand


_**So, I'm entering my own contest, but I had to once I had heard this song because it provided me with a challenge. It has taken me forever to write this, I have screamed, cried, shedded tears and continuously slammed my head against the wall attempting to write the damn thing, I hope you all love it, well....like it at least! Anyway, I would really appreciate knowing what you all thought, please review if you want to, if not...have a nice day (Blatant Bon Jovi Song) Lol **_

_**Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own X-Men, but I do dream of owning Hugh Jackman and if I did own the appalling lyrics to this song, I would deny it, even under medieval torture ;) **_

**What A Feeling**

Marie rolled the chunky, green and black striped socks up her ankles and sighed. Gazing in the cracked mirror, a mirror with a perfectly preserved hand mark adorning the glass, an unwanted thought fluttered into her mind, was that hand print composed of dried, caked up blood? She shook her head and the thought disappeared, she was ready for this, she could do this, she was Marie D'Ancanto and she was a free spirit, whatever that meant. Jubilee had told her that she was crazy, she had a screw loose, a mental defect and had even asked her whether psychological issues and disturbances ran in her family. Marie had shrugged off the accusations, refusing to dwell on the faded memory of her great aunt Harriet, her Grandpa's sister. Great aunt Harriet had died at the age of sixty nine, wrapped head to toe in the softest toilet tissue, her hair scraped messily into pig tails and a framed photograph of Elton John in her wrinkled hand. No one had ever discussed the toilet paper issue, they all assumed that she had fallen foul of the toilet tissue fairy.

No way, her nearest and dearest certainly didn't have any blots on the family tree, they were all hard working, normal and respectable folk, lunacy and the surname D'Ancanto certainly did not walk hand in hand.

Taking a deep breath, she scanned the empty changing room and sat on the rickety pine bench, trying to remain calm and composed, but inside she was terrified. She had been training so very hard for this, early mornings and late nights anywhere and everywhere, barely enough sleep to make it through the day and here she was, ready to conquer all her fears. She had the knowledge but lacked the confidence, she had taken the cure, the voices vanished in an instant and only the awkward and blossoming Marie was left. That had taken some getting used to, especially when Bobby had broken it off with her, he was moving on to bigger and better things, and Marie? She wasn't moving at all, she was stationary, stagnant, at a standstill in her life. Until one morning she woke up and the sun was shining, birds were chirping and Hank was singing in the shower, it was now or never and it was time for Marie to leave the nest and stake her place in the world.

The gloves were thrown away and she was free, years of covering every inch of her skin and now, nothing, no clothes were needed. Of course she was unable to let it all hang out, feel the breeze against her naked, pale skin, the authorities took a dim view on those that flaunted themselves in their birthday suits, as naked as the day they were born.

The only part of her mutation that she missed was his voice, it had comforted her so many times, after nightmares, arguments with Bobby. Even when Marie was feeling temperamental and hypersensitive due to mother nature and those pesky times of the month, his voice soothed her into a lull. He had left though, just like his voice and faded away without a word, not even a goodbye. After the fight at Alcatraz he had changed, the death of Jean had hit them all hard and he had taken the brunt of it. She had hated that he had refused to open up, she only wanted to help, he had promised to take of her and she longed to return the favour.

This wasn't the time to think about him though, she was far away from the mansion, she was in Canada and Logan would never be foolish enough to venture here again. Sentimental he was not, and even though Marie ached to see him, the overwhelming urge to kick his ass was never far behind.

The tattered, brown curtain was thrown back and a gaunt, unshaven, beady eyed man curtly nodded at her. It was time, why she was flustered she didn't know, she had already been making a name for herself across the snow capped mountains of Canada, and Laughlin City was only going to be the next in a long line of towns and cities she had triumphed in. Smiling sweetly in the mirror and looking at her appearance one last time, she silently wished herself luck and wondered if there were better ways to earn herself a living all alone on the road.

_**First when there's nothing but a slow glowing dream, That your fear seems to hide deep inside your mind. All alone I have cried silent tears full of pride, In a world made of steel, made of stone. **_

Logan turned the ignition off and pocketed the keys in his beaten, scruffy leather jacket. Cracking an unpleasant kink out of his neck, he glanced ahead watching the snowflakes fall from the white washed sky and land on his windscreen. Sighing deeply to himself he opened the glove-box, viciously discarding the beef jerky, in search of a cigar. It had been months since he had left the mansion, he had packed up his meager possessions, duffel bag in one hand, the keys to his truck in the other and a tortured soul hanging over his head, he had walked out. He didn't know how long he had driven around aimlessly, but he knew that he was running from an impossible situation.

Finding the last cigar from his emergency stash, he placed it between his lips and produced his lighter. Jean had played on his mind for months, the look on her tearful face when she had gazed into his eyes, the sound of the last rasping breath leaving her broken body and the smell of her blood after he had stabbed her with his claws. He was a monster, an animal, he didn't deserve forgiveness or pity for what he had done, especially not from the kid.

Marie, he had left her to fend for herself, she had taken the cure and had seemed happy enough with the outcome. He was sure that the Ice Cube would take care of her until he returned. She was safe at the mansion, but he didn't like the thought of her in her boyfriend's arms, Bobby was inexperienced and he didn't know how special Marie truly was. The kid had something, a hold over him he couldn't decipher, from the moment they had met there was a spark and from that fateful, chance meeting in the bar he had wanted to protect her. He would lay down his life to save hers, he would go to the ends of the earth to find her and he would do anything to see her smile.

Logan brushed a gloved hand across his tired face, he really needed to sleep, all those thoughts and feelings were messing with his Goddamn mind and he was beginning to turn into a pansy ass. Scott Summers mark two, that's what he was, no that wasn't fair. He winced as a snapshot of Scooter's final resting place polluted his mind, alongside pictures of Scott and Jean together hand in hand and his eyes glazed over as he remembered them fighting over a wedding magazine. Forget pansy ass, he had turned into a sentimental ass, without his acknowledgment it had seemed and he resented that.

Maybe it was time to head back to the mansion, or at least check in with Ororo and see how the Kid was doing. He would do that later, because unusually for the Wolverine his interest had been piqued. He had been at a gas station ten miles from here, and had overheard a group of guys talking, a young girl had been taking the cage fights of Canada by storm and that had sat uncomfortably with him. Was this girl a mutant? Whoever she was, she certainly knew how to fight to win, if he ever met her trainer he would buy him a beer, not many grown men could hold their own in the ring against a worthy opponent. This girl was defying the odds and drawing the crowds in from far and wide, Logan only wanted to bring her down a peg or two, he was sure whoever this mysterious girl was, she was no match for him.

Opening the truck door and stepping out, he pulled the jacket tighter around him banishing the cold, wishing that he had felt the urge to run during the summer months, he was getting to old for this kind of crap. Locking the truck, he gazed around at the familiar surroundings. He hadn't been here since he had met the kid, it hadn't changed much he noted, Laughlin City was still the armpit of the Canadian wilderness, a few more buildings here and there, but a shit hole nevertheless. He could already hear the crowd and unconsciously cracked his knuckles, readying himself for a fight, the prize money had his name written all over it.

_**Well I hear the music, close my eyes, feel the rhythm, wrap around, take a hold of my heart.**_

Hopping from foot to foot, Marie danced around the confines of the enclosed cage, dodging a lazily thrown fist and blowing a a stray piece of hair from her face. It was time to finish this fight, she had been dragging it out far to long and was tiring of facing off with the same man. If he had been remotely handsome she would have been more than happy to continue, but his mish-mash of disproportionate facial features had her feeling queasy. Grotesque looking men seemed to flock to her, like Winnie the pooh drooling over a pot of honey. They were turned on by her fighting techniques and the way she could hold her liquor, she was now famous in the bars of Toronto for drinking any willing man under the table.

A pudgy fist came within a hairs breadth of knocking her off of her feet. "Wait!" Marie cried, holding her hands up in a defensive position. "Do you really think you could hit a woman?"

The man seemed to be reevaluating his position, thankfully. "You see a woman round here? Cause' I sure don't." The seedy man responded, drawing back his closed fist and slamming it into her face.

Lying on the floor, white dots clouding her vision, Marie's mind stumbled onto a valid point, she should have read the man's body language and why did the woman hitting ploy not work? It had always worked, that is how she had always won her matches, by distracting her opponent and then kicking him in his delicate place. Now she had a problem, looking up she observed the man towering over her, the metallic taste of blood trickling onto her taste buds as she licked her lips.

Logan battled his way through the crowds, making a beeline for the bar, he had a hankering for a bottle of ice cold beer. His eyes flickered to the cage as the bloodthirsty crowd roared and he stopped in his tracks. His first thought was 'Who in the hell fights in a leotard?', his second thought was 'She sure looks good in that leotard', his third thought was 'Shit, is that the kid?' and his fourth thought was overshadowed by a long drawn out list of profanity and insults, when he witnessed Marie take a hit and fall awkwardly to the ground.

With his claws itching to gut the guy that had attacked her, he pushed his way through the crowd, his feral eyes never leaving the kid. What was she doing here? In Canada, in Laughlin City and in a cage fight, of all the stupid Goddamn things to do, she chooses this? He just hoped she had the good sense to stay down until he could get to her. "Move." He snarled, shoving a guy to the floor and growling to himself, why was she getting up?

Marie stood to her feet shaking slightly, she was strong, stronger then Danny Devito, that is what she had nicknamed the man. He held a passing resemblance to the vertically challenged actor but he sure did pack a punch, she was starting to think that the saying 'Good things come in small packages' was a farce. They began to circle each other, she was watching and waiting, biding her time, just like Logan had taught her. The man would soon slip up, she had noticed that he loved to play to the watching crowd and that, she smirked to herself would be his downfall.

"Who is going to win this battle of the sexes? The sassy southerner Rogue or the condensed canuck, the Lumberjack?" The cage masters voice boomed, causing the crowd to erupt into a screaming, shouting frenzy. "Place your bets now."

"You're a lumberjack?" A startled Marie asked the Canadian. "Next you'll be telling me that there is no height restriction to become a Mountie and you'd look good in red."

The man bristled at her comments and his eyes narrowed. "Actually I do look good in red and my dad was a Mountie."

The knowing smirk crept back onto her face, she was finally getting somewhere and her challenger was becoming furiously unhinged, slowly but surely. "I bet you were a disappointment, too short to reach the top shelf, too short to climb into bed unaided, and too short to kiss you girlfriend goodnight." The latter comment caused a rush of movement and Marie was pinned to the wired cage fence. "Do you have to carry a ladder around with you just in case you get into difficulty?"

Logan had finally reached the cage without having to crack too many heads, the rumbling growl had returned with a vengeance when his ears caught the tail-end of Marie's conversation. Did she fail to realize that she was going to get herself beaten to a pulp? He could admit to himself that the bantering was cute, when they were in the Danger Room he was all for it, this however was sheer stupidity. He knew what she was trying to accomplish and it scared him shit-less, because the angrier that guy got, the harder he would hit the kid. This was going to stop now, it had to before someone got hurt, mainly the short ass with his hands wrapped around Marie's throat.

He marched up to the announcer, the smell of her blood attacking his senses and stirring the Wolverine from his slumber, his hackles began to rise and he clenched his fists tightly. "End it now." Logan demanded his upper lip curling in to an intimidating snarl.

"Are you crazy?" The announcer chuckled good-naturedly. "This is the best fight I have seen in years, I've never seen chemistry like it."

Latching a hand onto the fabric of the mans shirt, Logan lifted him clean off of his feet and looked menacingly into his eyes. "I ain't gonna tell you again bub, end it."

Marie was in a pickle, she hadn't expected her previous comments to hit such a raw nerve. She had always thought that women were the more insecure of the sexes, apparently she had been wrong, men were very sensitive about height and length issues. Well, they do say that you learn something new everyday. Now, if only she could prise this mans hands from around her throat, with her new found knowledge.

"Are you going to give in girlie? Or am I going to have to throttle you into..." The words died on his lips, as the announcer's stammering voice interrupted his fun.

"I...I apologize, but this fight is officially over."

The canuck's head snapped to the side and he withdrew his hands, the surrounding crowd booing, hissing their displeasure at the lackluster ending and where was the promised violence?

She saw her chance and took it, kneeing him in the groin with added pleasure, she was starting to wonder if she had too much of Logan in her. Never before had she experienced the ruthless, savage want to cause hurt. The wannabe Mountie fell into a groaning, whimpering, whining heap, cupping his boys with his hands and cursing the day he had ever set eyes on her. A loud disturbance beside the cage caught Marie's attention and glancing to the source of the ruckus, she gaped silently astounded as Logan stormed up the steps of the cage, a look of pure hatred painted on his handsome face.

Logan sighed in utter relief watching the kid knee the asshole, fuming spectators came rushing to the announcer baying for blood, but he had more important issues to deal with. Firstly the jumped up little shit that had a laid a hand on his Marie was dead, and secondly, she was going back to that mansion, even if he had to drag her there. Wait, his Marie? The Wolverine not wanting to wait a second longer to hand out his own brand of violent justice, spurned Logan on with the scent of her blood. Pupils dilating and bordering on the brink of pure instinct, he trudged over to the steps, heavy boots clunking against the grating.

_**What a feeling, bein's believin', I can't have it all, now I'm dancing for my life. **_

"Logan?" Marie hissed, edging closer to her feral friend. "What the heck are you doing here?"

Ignoring the obvious resentment and displeasure in her voice at his appearance, he only scowled at her, the temptation of shredding the guy on the ground into pocket sized chunks of flesh thundering through his veins. She recoiled somewhat, earning herself another dark look from the cage fighting champion. Marie stepped closer to the gate, why was Logan here? Had Storm sent him to track her down? He hadn't even said a simple 'Hey kid' to her yet, all she had received was a rather off putting and unnerving glare.

"Wait out there." Logan ordered, pointing to an empty bench where the drunken patrons usually sat. "Where I can see you."

She opened her mouth about to pour scorn on his poor attitude, only to bite her tongue when he gave her a threatening look. Scurrying out of the cage, she questioned her actions, what the hell was she frightened of? This was the cuddly, gentle, soothing protector of hers, he had never raised his voice to her once, comforted her when she had nightmares and could often cheer her up with a mere smile. She sat on the bench huffing to herself and gazed up at the cage, Logan had his hands around the mans throat.

Logan waited patiently until the kid had left the cage, then turned his sole attention to his prey. He was determined to teach him that no one, no one could touch a hair on Marie's head and walk away unscathed. He didn't care that this had been a cage fight, nor that he was being overprotective, he had made a promise and come hell or high water, he aimed to keep it. In one swift motion and a squeak from the damn lumber-jacking Canuck, Logan grappled with his conscience and tried not to kill the man.

"You like to hurt girls bub, that don't sit right with me." He growled, his iron grip tightening around the guys neck. "Especially when you hurt that girl."

The mans eyes bulged, his face turning blue, gasping for air. "P...p...p...please, I..c...can't breathe."

Logan scoffed at him, where was his compassion when he was fighting Marie? He only had to smell the scent of her dried blood on the dicks hand, and his fist was connecting with a jaw.

Marie meanwhile, had wandered back to her temporary dressing room come storage room. She picked up her duffel bag and threw it loosely over her shoulder, hoping that Logan wasn't going overboard. She understood that he worried for her and she loved him unconditionally for it. Sometimes she felt smothered by it though, she was a big girl now, capable of caring for herself and making her own decisions. As soon as her eyes had fallen on Logan's she knew that he was in protective mode. That was a major problem because until then she had been enjoying herself, fighting, winning and money, oh yeah, it was a fantastic combination.

Not even bothering to glance at her appearance in the mirror, she bypassed it without a second look and crept past the curtain. Marie wanted her money, she didn't want it, she craved her crumpled wealth of twenty dollar bills. That is what had kept her off of the streets, she hadn't hitch-hiked once, trains, bus's and cabs, she has used every public transport known to man. Okay, she had walked a couple of miles here and there, when it wasn't snowing, sleeting or raining and the landscape had awed her into speechlessness, if she had had anyone to speak to that is.

Walking casually to Mr. Cowboy hat, she curtsied sarcastically. "I'm here for my money."

"I don't owe you no money, the fight was forfeited." The walrus moustached, elderly gentlemen replied, counting out the abundance of money he had made.

Logan gazed down at his bleeding prey, his inner Wolverine had been appeased for the moment. He had battered the guy black and blue, and hadn't felt bad about it once. He had hurt Marie, his Marie and he wouldn't stand by and let that happen. He was beginning to suspect that his feelings were running deeper for her, he knew that he cared for her, but love? No, he had never felt love, women were a means to an end, he had an itch to scratch, he would see a hooker. Then why couldn't he shake the thought of her in that leotard from his mind? It was burned in his cranium, the tight fabric hugging her womanly curves, her creamy long legs and her ample breasts bouncing up and down. What was he thinking? She was a kid, only a kid, a scantily dressed kid in a leotard.

Looking up in the direction of the bench, he noticed that Marie had vanished, where the hell was she? He had told her to sit her ass down dammit, she wasn't safe here, she was naive, not street wise, anything could happen. His eyes darted around the bar and he saw her, she was arguing with a moustached man. Leaving the bloodied, floored bastard, he trudged to the gate. He hoped that he would reach the kid before she lost her temper, he was pondering on the thought of her having too much of his personality, she had taken the cure but had always had a ferocious temper. From him, that's where she had acquired it from, when he had met her she was polite, sweet and wholesome, then after the mishap in his bedroom when he had stabbed her, she had sucked the life out of him literally. After he had saved her from Magneto he had noticed a subtle change, her patience had waned, and she was no longer happy go lucky. She had a fearsome temper, and God help anyone that had annoyed her in anyway.

Marie was thinking, thinking of murdering the son of a bitch that was sat in front of her. How dare he, she had fought that man, danced her life away and now she wasn't getting paid? It had taken every scrap of dignity not to attack the elderly man, there and then. She had fought, her fat lip and the bruised eye were reminders of that and now she couldn't get her money!?

"I want what's owed to me." She announced eyeing the greedy SOB

"The announcer called time on the fight." He responded casually, tilting his hat over his eyes. "Deal with it Miss."

She would deal with it all right, snatching the money from the table she pocketed it. "There I've dealt with it, happy now?"

The long in the tooth gentlemen leapt to his feet. "That money isn't yours, slap it down on the table and I won't shoot you."

Logan stood behind the kid, listening intently to the old guys warning, yeah, she had too much of him in her alright. Placing a hand oh her shoulder he shook his head, silent communicating his wishes to her.

Marie responded by shaking the hand from her shoulder and glaring at Logan. "This is all your fault you know."

Rolling his eyes dramatically, Logan pulled his wallet from his back pocket. "That cover it?" He asked the man, throwing a good many twenty dollar bills at him.

"That sure does." The man said, nodding his head appreciatively.

"Come on."

Marie looked to Logan and mockingly raised an eyebrow. "You want me to leave with you?"

"Yeah." He grunted, tugging her away from the old guy and into the corner of the deserted bar. "Move it, my trucks out front."

She watched him walk away from her, ogling how amazing his ass looked encased in the tight, tight, tight, denim. A realization hit her right between the eyes, she was checking out Logan, her Logan, Logan...Uh, Logan. Good God, what was the matter with her? She was acting like a randy hormonal teenager, casting one more look around the bar where they had first met, she followed closely behind him her eyes never leaving the seat of his pants.

Logan had run out of his supply of beloved cigars and that pissed him off, he needed a cigar, he was going to have to sit in close proximity to the kid. She was still dressed in the leotard and it was worrying him, sitting near her, her nipples were erect and boy, he would have to fight to keep his hands and teeth to himself. This was torture, he would rather she be dressed in a loosely fitting sack that hid everything, how was he supposed to drive with her flaunting herself like that?

_**Take your passion and make it happen, pictures come alive, you can dance right through your life. **_

They were both sat beside each other in the truck. "So." Logan started.

"So" Marie replied, glancing out of the window at the barren land. She knew that he was only taking his time, grappling to find the right words, he wanted to know why she had left.

"Why'd you leave? You were safe at the mansion kid."

She sighed and shifted in her seat. "I needed some air."

"Some air?" He asked incredulously, his trademark eyebrow almost reaching his hairline. "Couldn't you have taken a walk, stayed in the city limits?"

"I'm not a child Logan." She chided.

He gripped the steering wheel firming, thinking of the damn leotard she was wearing. "I know you ain't."

Logan was acting strangely, they hadn't seen each other in months and here they were side by side. He was still as handsome as ever she noted, his looks would never diminish thanks to his healing ability. There she was again checking him out, her eyes examining every part of his face closely.

"What you lookin' at?"

"N..nothing." She stammered quickly, diverting her gaze to the stone bridge they were about to pass under.

He noticed that her heart beat was increasing steadily, his nose catching a whiff of lust and want. Jesus Christ, did she have any idea what she was doing to him? His jeans felt too tight all of a sudden, two sizes too small. He racked his brain, he needed to think of something anything, to take his mind off of sex. Driving past a sign indicating a motel he knew that he was done for, thoughts flashed through his mind and there was his Marie, underneath him screaming his name in pleasure.

Driving down the interstate, Logan almost crashed into the car in front when it broke suddenly without warning. Marie, who had been paying close attention to the beef jerky littering the floor, was thrown forward, her seat belt digging into her chest. "Logan, watch the road!" She shouted, catching sight of the motel they were passing by.

He cleared his throat and muttered an apology under his breath, as she stared longingly at the motel. Glancing at Logan's hands she idly wondered if the rumours of men with big hands were true, he wore such tight jeans it left little to the imagination anyway. Yes, she decided, it was true, she certainly wouldn't need a microscope and a pair of tweezers to find it.

"You're blushin' kid." Logan declared gruffly. "You got anythin' you wanna say?"

Marie almost balked at his question, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. "I'm not blushing, it's just hot in here." She whispered, avoiding his questioning gaze.

"Tell me about it." He replied, with an added sigh.

Oh God, what if he could smell her affection for him? Her hands scrambling for the handle, she turned it furiously, winding down the window and letting in the freezing winters air.

"That's better isn't it?!" Marie exclaimed, over the roaring wind.

She was nuts and it drove Logan wild, he gulped at how beautiful she looked, her chestnut hair framing her face, those coffee tinted eyes full of life, the way he could see her breasts through the charcoal ink-like fabric. He was going to go to hell for lusting over a kid, but he didn't care, he had never felt this way, not even about Jean and that was a sobering thought. He was no longer drunk on desire, putting his foot down on the accelerator, he had made up his mind and she was going back to the mansion, alone.

Marie was confused, one minute Logan was gazing at her breasts as if she was a dog in heat, then the shutters came down and he frowned at her. It made absolutely no sense to her at all, reaching for her duffel bag, she unzipped it and removed her trusty map. He only frowned at her again, she hummed to herself, tracing a finger across the route they were currently travelling.

"This road goes to..." Her head snapped up and she turned to face him. "You're taking me back to the mansion!?"

"Yeah." He grunted, his eyes never leaving the road. "We're two hours from the border."

"The border!?"

"Yeah, the border."

Angrily folding the map, she crossed her arms over her breasts and glared at him. "What gives you the right to decide what's best for me?"

Logan could hear the warning tone in her voice, but he couldn't have cared less. "You're safer with the X-Men."

"I don't want to go back Logan, not yet."

"You're goin' back, so deal with it." He growled, on the verge of losing his temper with her. He only wanted to keep her out of harms way, she had already been hurt too many times, and he couldn't keep her safe if she was roaming around Canada. He didn't care that he was being a hypocrite, this was for her own good. Smelling the scent of fury coming off her in waves, he glanced at her. "What, you think you can handle havin' a life like that, fightin' day in and day out to survive?"

She nodded her head defiantly. "I told you before, I'm no longer a child and what I choose to do with my life is my business. So butt out Logan."

Punching the steering wheel with an adamantium fist, he snatched the map from her hand and threw it out of the open window. "You ain't got a clue about life kid, its hard out there on your own!"

Marie turned around and watched her map fly away, soaring on the wind. Unbuckling her seat-belt, she shot daggers at him. "I'll promise you this Logan, I won't turn into you and I won't let my heart turn to stone." She opened the door, ignoring Logan curse as he brought the truck to a standstill. "I know enough about life, to understand that I won't live forever and it's up to me to make the most of my life while I have the chance." Stepping out of the now stationary truck, she smiled calmly at him. "Please excuse me, I have a map to find."

_**Now I hear the music, close my eyes, I am rhythm. In a flash it takes hold of my heart. **_

Logan sat in the truck long after she had gone, had he let his heart turn to stone? He hadn't thought of Jean since he had found Marie, and now sat here alone, Marie was all he thought about. Yes, he missed Jean and probably always would, death had a strange way of never leaving you and grief manifested itself in many ways. He decided that is was time for a talk, they needed to air their feelings and she needed to dress in anything other then a skin tight leotard, it was making him hard just thinking about it.

Marie was stumbling down an icy ditch, her ashen arms above her head, attempting to keep her balance. She felt regretful that her outburst had been aimed at Jean, she had cared for her like family and really did miss her. Emitting a tiny, high pitched shriek, when she lost her footing, she tumbled down the slope and landed directly in front of her map. Grinning to herself, amused at her predicament, she gazed up as she heard Logan call her name. "I'm down here." She replied, giggling as she saw his anxious face peer at her from the road above.

"You okay?" He heard himself asking, his eyes darting over her body checking for any injuries.

"I'm fine." Marie huffed, falling back on her curvaceous ass every time she tried to stand. "And look, I found my map."

"What's so damn important about that anyway?"

Her face fell slightly and she hugged the map to her. "It's the same map I had when I was sixteen, I went home Logan."

Marie had actually returned home? That must have been a big deal for her, he should have been there to support her. "How did it go? Your folks pleased to see you?"

He smelt the salty tears before he could see them, shit, he felt like kicking himself. "Hey, come on kid. It can't be that bad."

She only cried harder and Logan felt like the biggest asshole ever. Treading carefully to the edge of the ditch, he slipped on a piece of ice and found himself hurtling towards her at a breakneck speed. Marie, despite her heavy heart and the flow of tears that were cascading down her face, doubled over with laughter at the sight of Logan skidding to a halt. His eyes were wide, and he looked as though he was sweating up a storm, even though the temperature had dropped below freezing. "You didn't have to try and cheer me up." She giggled, holding her stomach.

"I wasn't tryin' to." He growled, gritting his teeth. "That was an accident, damn ice."

"Don't be so modest." She cooed, pinching his cheek with her frozen fingers.

"Damn in kid, you're freezin'. Lets get your ass back to the truck, before you get hypothermia."

"Stop your worrying."

Logan hauled her to her feet, an arm looped around her waist. "I will, once you're in the truck."

They gazed into each others eyes, and Logan brushed a finger over her cut lip. "You didn't hurt him to bad did you?"

"I roughed him up, he'll live." He sighed, wishing that he had hit the guy harder. "No more cage fightin' darlin', you hear?"

Marie wrapped her arms around Logan's waist, her dainty figure engulfed in his strong arms. "Darling?" She questioned, his body heat radiating off him and warming her shivering frame.

He hadn't realized that he had called her that, pulling her closer to him, he placed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. "Would you prefer kid?"

"No, no, I like darling." She smiled, resting her head against his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. "It makes a nice change."

They both felt their relationship shift, one word uttered from the lips of a wary, untrusting, feral mutant and the world was knocked on its side. Logan held her to him, his grip tightening around her body. This felt right, her place was with him, right by his side and he would make sure that wherever he went, she would be following closely behind. He would never forget Jean, but he had a chance to start over again, a chance to be the good guy and live a life of love and happiness with his sweet Marie.

Marie inhaled the smell of cigars, she felt as though she had found her place in the world, she was meant to be at Logan's side. Life really was what you made it, and she knew that Logan would always be there for her. She had forgotten about Bobby and her heartbreak, that no longer mattered to her, she even hoped that Ice Man and Shadowcat were happy together. She wouldn't pressure Logan into admitting his feelings for her, she understood that he was still hurting over Jean's death, and she could wait, she would wait for the rest of her life if she had to. Nothing could eclipse the sheer magnitude of fuzzy, warm feelings that she was experiencing...well, almost nothing.

"Um, Logan." Marie announced, a calloused hand caressing her buttocks, as a thought collided with her desire. "How are we going to get out of here?"

_**What a feeling (I am music now) **_

_**Bein's believin' (I am rhythm now) **_

_**Pictures come alive, you can dance right through your life**_

_**What a feeling (I can really have it all) **_

_**What a feeling (Pictures come alive when I call) **_

_**I can have it all (I can really have it all) **_

_**(Call, call, call, call, what a feeling) I can have it all**_

_**(Bein's believin') Bein's believin'**_

_**What a feeling - Irene Cara- from the movie Flashdance**_


End file.
